The motifs: a hunter father, a skin to clothe the baby, imitative syllables, all go back a very long way, to the Old Welsh 'Peis Dinogat', which was preserved as an interpolation to Y Gododdin, perhaps because it has an elegiac element - the father is referred to in the past tense. I'm always sceptical of claims of extreme antiquity for folklore, but it does demonstrate a continuity of mood, the contrast between but also interdependence of the hearth and the heath.
A lovely story! My mum used to sing me a bedtime song which went ‘Sleepy old Joe / Sleepy old Joe / Where does he go to / I don’t know / Does he go to [insert place/activity] tomorrow? / Yes yes yes / But now he stays here / At [insert current address]’. Her mum sang it to her and I’ve sung it to my kids. But I’ve never found any trace of a wider tradition i.e. my best guess is that my Nan made it up.
I suppose someone has to be the one to make these up first, always! That's a bit like another one I remember which is "clap handys/ clap handys / till mammy[or]daddy[or whoever] comes home/with cakes in their pockets for [child's name] alone!"
Hang in there. It gets better. I relate to late night nursery rhyme research, but have retained none of it lol. Awesome reading about baby bunting with your blend of etymology and history. I remember looking up Scarborough Fair and Rock a Bye Baby. Is Madra delighted?
The motifs: a hunter father, a skin to clothe the baby, imitative syllables, all go back a very long way, to the Old Welsh 'Peis Dinogat', which was preserved as an interpolation to Y Gododdin, perhaps because it has an elegiac element - the father is referred to in the past tense. I'm always sceptical of claims of extreme antiquity for folklore, but it does demonstrate a continuity of mood, the contrast between but also interdependence of the hearth and the heath.
A lovely story! My mum used to sing me a bedtime song which went ‘Sleepy old Joe / Sleepy old Joe / Where does he go to / I don’t know / Does he go to [insert place/activity] tomorrow? / Yes yes yes / But now he stays here / At [insert current address]’. Her mum sang it to her and I’ve sung it to my kids. But I’ve never found any trace of a wider tradition i.e. my best guess is that my Nan made it up.
I suppose someone has to be the one to make these up first, always! That's a bit like another one I remember which is "clap handys/ clap handys / till mammy[or]daddy[or whoever] comes home/with cakes in their pockets for [child's name] alone!"
Ahh congrats on the baba.🎉
Thanks! It's been a great, if sleepless, time!
Hang in there. It gets better. I relate to late night nursery rhyme research, but have retained none of it lol. Awesome reading about baby bunting with your blend of etymology and history. I remember looking up Scarborough Fair and Rock a Bye Baby. Is Madra delighted?
Madra is being very good about no longer being the baby of the house. We expect her joy to reveal itself once solids start dropping on the floor 😂
😂😂👍